Testing a pressure barrel for leaks?

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jamesymurray

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Hello All,

After a few brews worth of bottling, I want to stick the next batch into my old PB. It's one of the standard 2" cap ones.
I've not used it in over a year, and would like to test it for air leaks before committing 40 pints of liquid gold to it.

Does anyone have any cunning suggestions as to how I could do this?


Cheers
 
I seem to remember someone saying coca cola and mentos sweets and close it up, then use a spray bottle with a soapy liquid in it to check round the top and valve for leaks.
 
I did think at first about doing something like filling it with cheap sparkling water and pumping a bulb of CO2. But the coke/mentos method sounds inspired, not to mention cheap.
 
Buy a replacement lid with an S30 valve (Ebay or elsewhere) and get a Hambleton-Bard small CO2 cylinder, seal it up and give it a squirt or two and see if it leaks.

I do the above even when I put beer it, no point leaving sealing it to chance - too many stories of no CO2 after 2 weeks gassing up, had it myself many times due to distorted lid gaskets and poor seals.
 
Do the normal checks on cap seals and smear seals with Vaseline etc etc.
Fill it about a quarter full of water and add some yeast nutrient if you have any.
Chuck in about 60g of table sugar, plus some trub from a brew or some bakers yeast.
Seal it up.
Put in a warm place.
Wait with fingers crossed and it should pressurise within in a few days as for a brew.
If you think its leaking place the liquid over tap then cap etc and you should find it. Also try soapy water which is good for finding leaks.
 
soapy water sprayed around the cap will show any leaks. Its what I did when changing HUGE gas cylinders in a big hospital. In fact its what BOC recommended.
 
I checked mine recenty, I just filled it with water to about an inch or two below the top, dryed it thoroughly and put a bulb of CO2 in. You said you thought about a bulb so I expect you can do this. First of all it escaped from the lid because I hadnt done it up tight enough, so I tightened that quick. Some gas came out for the S30 valve and I then left it for 24 hours. It was still completely dry (not even a sign of a drip) and when I undid the cap there was a fairly good whoosh indicating it had maintained pressure. I'm going to take the plunge and put my next brew in it.

I had put my last brew in it but it leaked from the tap pretty much straight away. I tipped it over and replaced the tap with the one from my FV (I didnt have any spares) but it still leaked so I put it in bottles in the end. It still came out ok, except one bottle that didnt carbonate properly. I then bought 4 new taps and have a new one in the PB which seems to have solved the problem. Prior to using it last time the cap didnt let any gas out so I think it might have been blocked. I gave it a good clean before using it last time (and this one) and its fine now. Just on case I have problems again I have enough bottles to move it over if need be,
 

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